Objective: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health concern with long-lasting psychological consequences for women survivors. The present randomized controlled trial examined the effectiveness of a structured psychosocial intervention in enhancing psychological empowerment as a mechanism of recovery among women who had experienced IPV in Iran. Methods: A randomized controlled trial with a posttest-only design and a 50-day follow-up was conducted on 28 women survivors of IPV, who were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or a control group. The intervention consisted of eight 90-minute group sessions focused on cognitive restructuring and strengthening internal psychological resources. Psychological empowerment was assessed using a validated multidimensional instrument measuring competence, impact, meaning, self-determination, and trust. Data were analyzed using ANCOVA, MANCOVA, and paired-sample t-tests, with age included as a covariate. Results: At post-test, the intervention group showed significantly higher psychological empowerment across all domains compared to the control group, including competence (F = 26.31, p 0.05), indicating that gains were not significantly different at follow-up. Conclusion: The findings suggest that structured psychosocial interventions may enhance psychological empowerment among women survivors of intimate partner violence. However, given the small sample size and posttest-only design, the results should be interpreted with caution. These interventions show promise as a supportive clinical approach, but further studies with larger samples and more rigorous designs are needed to confirm their effectiveness and generalizability. Plain Language Summary: Intimate partner violence can negatively affect women’s mental health, confidence, and sense of control in daily life. This study investigated whether a structured psychosocial group program could help improve these outcomes among women survivors of intimate partner violence in Iran. In a small randomized controlled pilot study, participants were assigned either to receive an eight-session group intervention focused on strengthening coping skills and internal psychological resources or to a control group. We measured changes in psychological empowerment, which refers to a person’s sense of competence, meaning in life, ability to influence events, self-determination, and trust in oneself. The results suggest that women who participated in the program showed higher levels of psychological empowerment compared to those who did not receive the intervention. These findings provide preliminary evidence that such structured psychosocial support may be beneficial in helping survivors recover and rebuild confidence. However, because the study included a small sample size and did not include baseline outcome measurements, the results should be interpreted with caution. Further research with larger samples and more rigorous designs is needed to confirm and extend these findings. Keywords: intimate partner violence, psychosocial intervention, psychological empowerment, resilience, women survivors
Khodadadi et al. (Mon,) studied this question.